Gender Flashcards
Role of chromosomes and hormones- chromosomes AO1
-46 chromosomes in human body (23 pairs)
Inside nucleus
-Carry the genetic information (genotype) that codes for physical and behavioural characteristics (phenotype) like eye colour and predisposition to mental illnesses
-23 pairs determines sex
XX- female
XY- male
Mother egg always contains X chromosome and sperm will either carry x or y
Up to about 6 week male and female feotuses look the same
-sexual organs no ifferent
The Y chromosome carries the SRY gene which causes testes to develop in an XY embryo
The testes produce androgens (male sex hormone) causing the embryo to become male without it the embryo would become female
Chromosomes and hormones- hormones A01
-hormones are chemical messengers hat are released from glands into the bloodstream
- most gender development occurs due to the influence of hormones
They act upon brain development and development of reproductive organs
-testosterone; helps development of male foetus, affects brain development both prenatal and later in childhood, research has focused on the behavioural effects and its link to agression
- oestrogen: female sex hormone, in much higher concentrations in females, helps regulation of menstrual cycle and development of secondary sexual characteristics like breast development and directing the menstrual cycle, can causes some women to experience heightened emotions and irritability during menstrual cycle
-Oxytocin: produced in higher quantities tin females, stimulates lactation in females, released in mass quantities during labour and after childbirth and makes the new mother feel ‘in love’ with the baby,
Reduce the effect of stress hormone cortisol
Oxytocin has ruled the stereotype that men are less interested in intamcy and closeness in relationships
Chromosome and hormone- AO3 supporting research
-animal research has shown that female rats stopped displaying caring behaviour towards their babies while given a drug to stop oxytocin and oestrogen production
- male castarted mice reduced agressive biting, it returned to normal when injected with testosterone
Injections
-female mice also increased agressive behaviours after testosterone injections
- a strength adv these results suggests hormonal changes results in changes to sex typed behaviour
- however is n animal study so may not be generalisable to humans as we have different physiology so may be different in humans
Hormones and chromosomes- limitation of animal studies
-animal studies allow for controlled experiments showing casual relationships, and allow for studies that couldn’t be performed on humans foe ethical reasons, so generalising to gender in humans may nit be valid
- human exprience of gender is influenced by socialisation (smith and Lloyd), by culture ( mead) and develop of cognitive schemas (Martin and halverson) processes that are not present in most animals
Chromosomes and hormones- AO3 limitation mead
Research into cross culture gender differences has been used to critiscise the role of chromosome and hormones in sex and gender
- mead conducted research into three tribes in papa New Guinea
- in the arapesh both males and females displayed non agressive gentile, typically feminine behaviour
- in the mundugmor tribe both males and females behaved in a masculine way, aggressive and assertive
- in the tchambuli tribe sex role behaviour was completely reversed
- this therefore suggests that environmental factors have a larger influence of gender development of the main cause was biological then the same gender differences would be seen across all the tribes
Chromosomes and hormones- reductionist AO3
-describing hormones as male or female is over simplistic
-e.g there’s a form of oestrogen called oestradiol which is critical for male sexuality
- low levels result in a diminished sex drive and ability to produce perm
- therefore the role of hormones id reductionist
SLT AO1-
-explain the influence of environment in shaping our gender identity and that social context plays a role in development and states that all behaviour even gender is learned from observing others
- It was attention to nurture in shaping development including others at the child will come in contact with for example parents careers and teacher teachers and the media
- Direct reinforcement: children are more likely be reinforced for demonstrating gender appropriate behaviour
-E.G boys may be encouraged to be assertive and engaging rough play to show distinct gender appropriate behaviour and maybe punished for being gentle passive and showing emotion
-differential reinforcement is the way in which boys and girls are encouraged to show distinct gender appropriate behaviour
-They learn gender identity through this
SLT AO1- vicarious reinforcement
-indirect reinforcement; if the consequences of another person’s behaviour are pleasant. The behaviour is more likely to be imitated.
-If the consequence of the behaviour is the punishment the behaviour is less likely to be imitated for example if a daughter sees her mother be complimented for wearing a dress she’s likely to do the same
-If she’s punished, it will be less likely to be repeated
-if a boy sees a male classmate being teased for displaying feminine characteristics, it’s unlikely to be copied
SLT AO1- identification
-The process were by a child attaches themselves to a person who is seem to be like them a role model
-Someone who possesses the qualities is the child sees as rewarding
- role models are seem to be attractive high status and usually the same sex as the child
-when a child imitates the behaviour of a role model it’s called modelling
E.G a little girl copies her mother setting a table or feed her doll using a toy bottle modelling the behaviour she’s witnessed her mother doing .
-For example a boy may see an actor on the TV who is characterise as being strong and dominant he identifies with this character and will model his behaviour.
SLT AO1 mediational processes
-social learning theorists have also suggested four mediational processes that are central to learning the gender behaviour
-Attention- to the extent which we noticed certain behaviour
-Retention-how well behaviour is remembered
-Reproduction-whether we can perform the behaviour
-Motivation-what are the perceived rewards outweigh the perceived costs
SLT A03 contradictory evidence
-SOT which is very little emphasis on the influence of dreams and chromosomes and only considered the role of environment in gender development
-A weakness is the contradicting evidence we have seen in the case of David Reimer
-He was born biologically male but due to an accident he was raised as female
-It was not possible to raise him as a female a and override chromosome influence
-He reported he never felt like a female and when told he was biologically male he changed his identity to male
-He reported always feeling he was in the wrong gender identity
-Therefore the story suggests that biology has a stronger influence on gender identity and socialisation
-Modern research is a more likely to accept the bio social theory of gender; that there are innate biological differences between boys and girls that are reinforced by social interactions and cultural expectations
-However it is shown taking a more interactionist approach would be better
SLT A03 - cultural differences
A strength is that cross cultural findings show that gender roles are different in different cultures are influenced by environment
-Mead studied three tribes in Papua New Guinea
-I found a different pattern of male and female behaviour for each culture
Initially, our arapesh men and women both were gentle displayed feminine characteristics
-The mundugamore men and women were both violent displaying masculine characteristics
-tchambuli had gender roles completely reversed with women being dominant and men dependent
-therefore it shows that gender differences are determined by social factors and support supports the view of the social learning theory that gender is influenced by nurture.
-however a number of studies have found that parents do not directly teach gender behaviour to their children through selective reinforcement and punishment with children acquire the gender appropriate behaviour nonetheless
-So therefore maybe the learning of gender role occur through multiple processes rather than just reinforcement and identification.
SLT supporting evidence - smith and Lloyd
Evidence by Smith and Lloyd supporting the idea that perceived gender a proper behaviour of vicariously reinforced by socialisation
-They found when 4 to 6 months olds were dressed up as girls they were rewarded by adults for being pretty calm and feminine
-When the same children were just his boys, the adults rewarded them for playing with hammers being aggressive and assertive
-This demonstrates the significant social influence that children experience from an early age which contributes to the formation of stereotypes and what’s considered as gender appropriate behaviour in that culture.
SLT- supporting evidence
-Perry and bussey showed film clips to children aged 8 to 9
-In the film boys and girls were seen selecting an apple or a pair both gender neutral items
-Later the children were given a choice of fruit
-Boys selected the fruit that they had seen the other boys selecting and the girls did the same
-This shows that children model gender appropriate behaviour they observe in their peers
This is a strength to the learning theories explanation of gender development as it demonstrates modelling of gender appropriate behaviour
Psycodynamic A01-phallic
-Freud proposed that gender identity should occur approximately age 5 during the fall stage
-Before age 3 children have no concept of gender identity so it is flexible
-During the phallic stage the child seeks pleasure from playing with their own genitals
They begin to pay attention to other peoples genitals and begin to understand physical differences between males and females .
-to resolve this, the child experience is the Oedipus complex (boys) or electra complex(girls)
Resolving these effectively is vital for healthy gender development
